Sebastian writes:
“The Central Cluster CRHT have had to give up nine band six staff, those who are most experienced and qualified in the Team; they carry out the risk assessments and provide leadership to the Team. They have all been downgraded to Band five under a dubious process; four of them have been transferred to the wards; another given early retirement. This is what the Trust calls creating ‘an enhanced CRHT’; feels like the heart has been taken out of our Team.”
The crisis team is in crisis at Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).
This process was more than dubious, it was ludicrous/scandalous. A 15 to 20 minute interview asking a few obscure questions that bore no relevance at all to the Band 6 Role in a Crisis Team or the interviewees competence to do the job! and ‘hey presto’, you lose the most experienced Band 6 nurses in the team, deband them and ship off to fill gaps in ward areas. The decision to reduce the number of experienced Band 6 staff in the CRHT has to be one of the craziest and misguided decisions this trust has made so far and re-enforces the need for the Board, Managers and Executives to consider their positions! This decision must surely have compromised the Crisis Team’s ability to deal with the ever increasing referrals into the team that require a 4 hour urgent response for those in our community presenting in a Mental Health Crisis. GP Comissioning groups should also decide whether this Trust is able to meet the needs of their patients.
The picture above is very apt as indeed the loss of these team members will have irreperably damaged what was a highly effective, well functioning,dedicated Crisis Team.